What is the ruling on using gestures for sajdah and ruku’for a person praying Nafil Prayer while sitting down without an excuse?
الإيماء في صلاة النافلة
Question
What is the ruling on using gestures for sajdah and ruku’for a person praying Nafil Prayer while sitting down without an excuse?
الإيماء في صلاة النافلة
Answer
Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.
As to what follows:
With regards to answering your question we say, success is by Allah Almighty.
It is permissible to do ruku’ in nafil Prayer while seated without any excuse. This is supported by a hadith reported by Muslim on the authority of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) who said that:
“If he [the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him)] started to pray standing, he would bow standing and if he started to pray sitting, he would bow sitting.”
Another hadith narrated by Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says:
“I never saw Allah's Messenger (peace be on him) offering the night prayer while sitting except in his old age and then he used to recite while sitting and whenever he wanted to bow he would get up and recite thirty or forty verses (while standing) and then bow.”
Another narration says:
“Then he bowed and prostrated, then he would do likewise in the second rak'ah.”
Some scholars said that The Prophet (peace be on him) sat in ruku’ because of an excuse and others said he sat because he wanted to clarify that it is permissible. As for his making ruku’ standing, it was to clarify what is best. Therefore doing ruku’ standing indicates complete khushu’ and subjugation than doing ruku’ seated.
The permissibility of doing ruku’ seated without an excuse is supported by the generality of The Prophet’s (peace be on him) saying:
“The prayer of a man in a sitting position is half of the prayer.” [Reported by Muslim on the authority of Abdullah Ibn Umar]
His saying “seated” in the hadith refers to both The Prophet’s (peace be on him) qiyam and ruku’.
However, it is not permissible to use a gesture to do sajdah without an excuse. This is the more correct of the two views according to the majority of scholars because it is only mentioned in case of an excuse. Furthermore using gestures does not fulfil the reality of sajdah which is placing the forehead on the ground.
The Prophet (peace be on him) instructed that seven bones should touch the ground when one prostrates in a hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Ibn Abas:
“I have been ordered to prostrate on seven bones i.e. on the forehead along with the tip of the nose and the Prophet (peace be on him) pointed towards his nose, both hands, both knees and the toes of both feet and not to gather the clothes or the hair.”
A person who uses gestures but is able to prostrate would not have obeyed what he was commanded to do, which is prostrating on seven bones. Thus it is not permissible to use gestures on prostration when one is able to prostrate on the ground.
And Allah knows best.
Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.
As to what follows:
With regards to answering your question we say, success is by Allah Almighty.
It is permissible to do ruku’ in nafil Prayer while seated without any excuse. This is supported by a hadith reported by Muslim on the authority of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) who said that:
“If he [the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him)] started to pray standing, he would bow standing and if he started to pray sitting, he would bow sitting.”
Another hadith narrated by Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says:
“I never saw Allah's Messenger (peace be on him) offering the night prayer while sitting except in his old age and then he used to recite while sitting and whenever he wanted to bow he would get up and recite thirty or forty verses (while standing) and then bow.”
Another narration says:
“Then he bowed and prostrated, then he would do likewise in the second rak'ah.”
Some scholars said that The Prophet (peace be on him) sat in ruku’ because of an excuse and others said he sat because he wanted to clarify that it is permissible. As for his making ruku’ standing, it was to clarify what is best. Therefore doing ruku’ standing indicates complete khushu’ and subjugation than doing ruku’ seated.
The permissibility of doing ruku’ seated without an excuse is supported by the generality of The Prophet’s (peace be on him) saying:
“The prayer of a man in a sitting position is half of the prayer.” [Reported by Muslim on the authority of Abdullah Ibn Umar]
His saying “seated” in the hadith refers to both The Prophet’s (peace be on him) qiyam and ruku’.
However, it is not permissible to use a gesture to do sajdah without an excuse. This is the more correct of the two views according to the majority of scholars because it is only mentioned in case of an excuse. Furthermore using gestures does not fulfil the reality of sajdah which is placing the forehead on the ground.
The Prophet (peace be on him) instructed that seven bones should touch the ground when one prostrates in a hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Ibn Abas:
“I have been ordered to prostrate on seven bones i.e. on the forehead along with the tip of the nose and the Prophet (peace be on him) pointed towards his nose, both hands, both knees and the toes of both feet and not to gather the clothes or the hair.”
A person who uses gestures but is able to prostrate would not have obeyed what he was commanded to do, which is prostrating on seven bones. Thus it is not permissible to use gestures on prostration when one is able to prostrate on the ground.
And Allah knows best.